Land Cruiser Build Uneek 4×4 Rear Bar
Uneek 4×4 Rear Bar
A look at the next part of our Land Cruiser build, installing our Uneek 4×4 Rear Bar.
Initially I wasn’t going to look at adding a rear bar in the short term, however once I changed the wheels and tyres I really had to (welcome to the money pit) with all that extra weight on the rear door. And, if I was going to do it eventually then why not just do it straight away and enjoy it for longer, right!
I had done a little research on what rear bars are out there in the Aussie market and there are some cheaper options to the ridiculously expensive Kaymar setup. The cheaper ones just look terrible and I was not going to drop $5k on a Kaymar setup once you get all the accessories. I have also heard that the tow bar that comes with the Kaymar bar is actually not as great as they advertise, but anyway there are peeps out there that’ll tell you they are the best thing since sliced bread, different strokes for different folks.
So I decided for this part of the Land Cruiser build to go with a Uneek 4×4 rear bar for a few reasons. Firstly, I like the look of them, they are chunky, have a great rough matt black powder coat and just look bloody well made. Secondly, they are manufactured in Australia and I always try and support locally made products as they are usually far better made and you are supporting Aussie jobs. Thirdly, they are not ridiculously expensive when you are comparing them to say a Kaymar bar, they aren’t cheap either but for what you get they are a decent price in my opinion anyway. Finally, the main reason I did go with Uneek is that you don’t need to swing open the spare tyre carrier before you can open the rear door, the door opens as per usual. Why is this good? If you are out exploring on a dusty or muddy track you don’t have to reach under your spare tyre to release the tyre swing arm before you can open the door and get covered in dirt. I did also have a Uneek bull bar on my Wrangler and it was mint.
I purchased the bar from the guys at Murchison Products on the North Side of Brisbane as they are always good to me with pricing. I decided at this point in time to only get the bar and the driver side spare tyre carrier – I will see in the future if I need to get a jerry can holder however with the trailer this is probably not necessary. Fortunately for me, I have a really good relationship with the guys at Speedy Towbars, also on the North Side of Brisbane, and they agreed to help me install this (which is not something that they usually do) while they installed a heavy duty tow bar. I was advised that this would take 6 hours to install by Uneek and Murchison, however the guys at Speedy with all the right gear did this in half that time.
The old rear bumper came off fairly quickly, plugs off the old rear lights were cut off the factory bumper and then the tow bar was installed. The light plugs removed from the old bumper were then connected up to the lights on the Uneek rear bar for easier install and removal if ever required – these were soldered together. You will need to install LED load resistors for the lights as the Uneek bar is fitted with LED’s and the factory bar is not – you need to install these or else you will experience the hyper flash issue with your indicators. The provided spacers were installed and then the rear bar was fitted to the Cruiser. It looks absolutely amazing now with the chunky black bar compared to the cheap plastic factory bumper.
The fitting instructions have a few issues as there must have been some changes with the Cruiser over the years. There was no need to install the nut plate, as the Cruiser already had welded nuts fitted to the chassis – this is where the tow bar is bolted on as well. There is also mention that the factory flares / mud guards need to be cut, however we found that this was not required (so don’t go cutting these unless you really need to, as you will be a bit annoyed if you cut them for no apparent reason). If you have a tow bar already installed you will need to remove the bolts connected to the chassis to install the spacers and then to fit the rear bar. The instructions also mention that you will need the assistance of a friend, if you and your friend are built like a rugby prop then maybe, you will need at least 3 people to install this.
The rear tyre mount on the door was removed and then replaced with the Uneek door plate, swing arm bearings got greased up and then the swing arm was installed. The spare tyre was bolted onto the swing arm and then when the correct placement was found this was secured into place (a few holes need to be drilled here). The swing arm was then connected to the rear door using the supplied tie rod. Getting the correct settings with the tie rod took some time and I have adjusted it quite a few times since to try and get this just right. The rear bar all installed and Big Betty looking just bloody amazing!
Since the bar has been installed and I have done a few hundred kms I have found one issue that drives me a little crazy. The rear door now squeaks whenever you go over a bump. I have played around with the tie rod to try and get the correct tension but I am still having a few noise issues here. It it not as bad as it was at the start, but still an annoyance. I will continue to play around with the tie rod tension settings to see if I can eliminate the noise.
Also need to make some sort of a cap to fit over the left hand side axle for the other swing arm. Doesn’t look great when it’s not being used and it is going to rust really easily being exposed metal. Will need to oil or grease it and cover with something. Once I make something I’ll update the blog so you can see it.
Blog update (Jan 2020)
Contacted Uneek 4×4 and they do sell a cover for the other axle for the swing arm. Turns out it is the Kaymar cover. I ordered one, cost $20 and it fits perfect. Greased the axle beforehand, added the cover and then used a pin to keep in place. Looks much better.
I have added the fitting instructions below if anyone is interested in seeing what is involved with the install of the bar.
Overall though I am really happy with this part of the Land Cruiser build and fitting the Uneek 4×4 rear bar. It looks great and will serve us well for the hundred of thousands of kms we plan to do around this beautiful country of ours. Send us a message on Instagram if you have any questions or comment below.
Here is the rear bar on Uneek 4×4’s website if you would like more information.
More to come…
The thoughts of Peter.
mark cranston
23/01/2021 @ 8:48 AM
Peter, REAR BAR LIGHTS- wondering if you can give me some clarity with the actual LED rear tail lights (not the reverse lens) I have wired up the plug and play for the rear square lights and identified – Light- Brake-Indicator-
My question or quandary is that the top row of LEDs don’t light up….Are they for the reverse? or should they be the brake? or nothing?
If you can remember.
regards markcranston
Peter
24/01/2021 @ 2:39 PM
G’day Mark,
Our top ones are set to the indicators. We didn’t wire the lights, we had someone else do it. Bottom light comes on when lights are turned on.
If you go to the picture on this post that has the wiring, click on it to see it larger. You will be able to see how the wiring was done. Hope that helps you.
Cheers,
Peter
mark cranston
06/02/2021 @ 1:22 PM
Thanks Peter, I sorted the wiring myself…….there was a a lot of self doubt hence all of the questions. When I finally completed the install I found that the top LEDs are the blinker. (once I had a go with testing the wiring it was easy)
No squeaks as yet but time will tell.
One thing I noticed is that Uneek supply 6/M14 bolts 8.8 that are the main connecting bolts to the chassis and come with 2 nut plates. The exisiting bolting has 6/M12 10.9 bolts and the nuts are factory welded in place by Toyota…….Did you use the existing bolts or drill out and fit the M14 bolts etc that Uneek supplied?
Peter
09/02/2021 @ 3:17 PM
Hi Mark,
That’s good that you got it sorted mate.
With the bolts we did this with our towbar and used the towbar M12 bolts. We didn’t drill out the holes.
Cheers,
Peter
mark cranston
10/01/2021 @ 10:59 AM
Thanks for the reply Peter, The squeak is going to annoy me too….I am waiting for delivery of the bar tomorrow:) So, really keen to get the weight off the rear door. Looking at doing the Madigan again this year 2021. Please don’t blog the details of the Madigan…..its such a good track with low vehicle volume. Your blog s are quality and well documented. Good work. keep safe markcranston
Peter
11/01/2021 @ 8:38 AM
Hopefully you don’t get the squeak. Thanks mate.
mark cranston
04/01/2021 @ 2:18 PM
great blog Peter. I’m a fan of the Uneek products. I have the front bar for my 76 and love it, so i was interested to read your experience in the fitting and long term use. Has the bar any issues a year on?
Peter
04/01/2021 @ 3:31 PM
G’day Mark,
Thank you very much mate appreciate that. Great to see it is providing you with some helpful information.
We actually have a post we are working on about the rear bar now that we have been using it for well over 12 months in all sorts of conditions. Probably won’t have it up for another few weeks though. Overall we are happy with the rear bar but there are a few issues with it. The biggest issue is getting the tie rod adjustments correct for the spare tyre. The Uneek instructions around best setup were pretty vague, so it has been a bit of trial and error for us. It is really difficult to stop any movement in the rear tyre when driving on bumpy roads. This then causes a small amount of movement in rear door and you can get a really annoying squeak. We haven’t been able to get it right. The only solution is WD40 on all the door mechanisms and this stops the noise for a while and when it starts spray again. We have also had to buy a few replacement soft stops that the swing arm sits on. These can wear out quickly if driving a lot of corrugations. They only cost $7 to replace but they do wear down and will need to be replaced. We have also lost a lot of the powder coat underneath from gravel roads. Not a big issue as it is expected eventually, so requires a bit of touch up paint.
With all those issues mate, overall we are pretty happy with the bar. I still wouldn’t go a Kayamar. The Uneek bar definitely looks better than any other and being able to open the door easily with the spare tyre is great. Don’t think I would go any other. It would have been great if they had a couple of recovery points integrated into the bar but then I am not sure if that is possible.
Hope that helps. Hit us up if you have any more questions.
Cheers,
Peter